Career in national politics

Hanna Tetteh won the Awutu Senya constituency seat in the December 2000 parliamentary election^[2] and served for one term as a National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament on the opposition benches. She did not contest her seat in the next election. She was elected as a National Executive Member of the National Democratic Congress in 2005 and in 2008 she was appointed as National Communications Director of the NDC, replacing John Dramani Mahama, who had become the vice presidential candidate of the NDC as the running mate of John Atta Mills, the party's presidential candidate.^{[citation needed]}

The 2008 presidential campaign and the role she played in managing the party's communication strategy for that election made her a more prominent political figure and she became one of the main spokespersons for the NDC.^{[citation needed]}

Minister of Trade and Industry, 2009–2013

After the NDC victory in the 2008 elections Tetteh became the Spokesperson for the newly elected Government while the process of making new appointments was ongoing and in February 2009 President John Atta Mills nominated her for the position of Minister of Trade and Industry. Following her confirmation by Parliament she took over the portfolio and held the position of Minister of Trade and Industry from February 2009^[2] to January 2013.

During her tenure as Minister of Trade and Industry she was also a member of the Government's economic management team, a member of the board of the Millennium Development Authority responsible for the oversight of the implementation of the first Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact in Ghana. She also served on the National Development Planning Commission, and was the Chairperson of the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB).

Back to Parliament, 2013–2017

When John Mahama succeeded the deceased President Atta Mills in 2012, he also appointed Tetteh as the Communications Director for his 2012 election campaign. She also decided to contest for a parliamentary seat once again and was elected to the newly created Awutu Senya West constituency seat in the December 2012 election after serving as member of parliament for Awutu Senya Constituency from 2001 to 2005.^[12]

She won the seat after getting 23,032 votes representing 55.47% against his closest contender Oppey Abbey also a former Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya Constituency who got 18,487 votes representing 44.53%.^[13]

She lost the seat to George Andah in the 2016 parliamentary election who got 28,867 votes, 52.27% against her 25,664 votes representing 46.87%.^[14][15]

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2013–2017

Following the elections, Tetteh was nominated by President Mahama as Minister for Foreign Affairs and appointed as such in January 2013 after parliamentary approval.^[16][17] While serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs, she was also a member of the National Security Council and the Armed Forces Council.^[7]

When President Mahama became the chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in March 2014, Tetteh became the chairperson of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers at the same time.

After leaving her office in 2017, Tetteh was as Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at Robert Bosch Foundation.^[18] From 2017 until 2018, she served as a Co-Facilitator in the IGAD-led High-Level Forum for the Revitalisation of the Agreement for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.^[19]

Career with the United Nations, 2018–present

In 2018, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Tetteh as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), succeeding Sahle-Work Zewde.^[20][21][7] Shortly after, she again succeeded Zewde, this time as Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU).^[19]

Following the resignation of Ghassan Salamé as head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in 2020, Guterres suggested Tetteh as his successor;^[22][23] instead, the role went to Ján Kubiš.^{[citation needed]}

In 2022, Guterres appointed Tetteh as his Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, thereby switching positions with Parfait Onanga-Anyanga.^[24]